


That Day, I Meant It

by Melphis_Amekia



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Autistic Character, Drinking, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, I've actually combined several AU's into this, Reckless Driving, Sadness, Slow Burn, because I am basing this fic off of 17 prompts of a prompt idea list I saw on tumblr, for example, maybe I throw in some smut who knows?, mostly - Freeform, reckless use of spells, some heavy stuff will happen, the slow-burnest fic I'm ever going to write probably, there'll be the classic Coffee Shop AU stuff in there, urban fantasy au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-11-23
Packaged: 2018-08-22 15:47:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8291416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melphis_Amekia/pseuds/Melphis_Amekia
Summary: Lapis Lazuli is a barista at a local Beach City coffee shop. She has been working for the whole summer, saving the money so she could move from her current residence to a place in Beach City to attend college more easily. It would also mean she'd run away from that part of her past, which she counted as definitely a good thing.There's this problem at her job, though - an especially annoying and rude girl called Peridot who always managed to arrive at the worst time of the work day. However, it was pretty easy to piss her off, and the little tantrums she pulled were funny enough to be worth it. Then, one day, Lapis couldn't piss her off the usual way - not because she wanted to, but because something strange prevented her from doing so, and she was pretty sure it was all Peridots fault.





	1. A New Acquaintance

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I've recently finally watched SU and have completely fallen in love/pit of hell(that is loving the series). I absolutely love it.
> 
> Do you know what I love about the show so freaking much. That's right. I adore Lapis and Peridot, and I love Lapidot to bits and pieces. I couldn't stop myself from writing this fic, even though I have like 3 fics already that I'm writing and like 10 formed ideas from before. Oh well... they can wait.
> 
> I hope I've done a good job writing this fic and that you'll enjoy it!
> 
> Prompt:
> 
> “You’re the jerk-face customer that keeps on thumbing through their phone while ordering their drink so I exact revenge by spelling your name wrong on your cup and drawing phallic pictures on your coffee”

I looked in despair as hordes of people kept trickling into Starbucks. It was rush hour, yes, but this one was even more rush and even more hour than usual. The students have started returning to Beach City from their vacations, although the classes weren’t starting properly for two more weeks. I wasn’t used to this much demand(especially on a Monday), as I only started working after all the students had already left the town. Even with all the training to put a bit of a smile, I couldn’t make my face do anything but a blank. All the faces of the students sort of combined into one by now, and writing their names wrong intentionally became less fun when I couldn’t even remember them out of sheer exhaustion.

That’s why I almost missed seeing _her_ , even though her triangle pointy beach-blonde hair was completely out of place and easy to remark. She hadn’t even ordered anything yet, but was typing something on her damn phone like her eyes were fused to the screen. Ugh, I hated serving this girl. She was the pretentious type - always in a hipster clothes combination, piercings around her eyes, nose, one even on her lower lip, and always ordering the same thing. I had no problem with that, but the girl accented it with five minutes of phone-typing-time, followed by even more pretentious consideration of the menu which always lead to the shrill proclamation she wished a venti latte macchiato and for me to „Get my name right this time, CLOD! It’s P-e-r-i-d-o-t! That’s simple enough for a clod like you to get!

I took my time with her order, thinking of what I was going to write in instead of her name. After mentally crossing out Palid, Percy, Pudat and Pilar(since I used them already at least once), the name Plyboh came to my mind suddenly, as if Lady Luck smiled upon me.

With the perfect name written on the cup and a couple of stylized unsavory images right beside it, I handed it to the annoying girl, giving her a fake smile. However, instead of yelling at me like she used to, she smiled at me like she unearthed a secret and said: „Wow, thanks!” before paying for the coffee and leaving. It left me a bit shocked. Her tantrums were amusing to observe, which _was_ a part of why I always liked to misspell her name. This new reaction of hers was weird, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it. There were about a dozen other people to serve before I could hang up my apron and go, so I busied myself with that.

Peridot didn’t come to the Starbucks I worked in for two weeks, when before she used to come twice a week exactly when I had the day shift. I was almost beginning to think she wasn’t going to come again, so I diverted my thoughts to „how will I manage to get all my stuff from my house to the little place I rented so I could be closer to the college”. I’d probably have to ask Steven and his family for help.

When she finally came, right as the rush hour ended, I was almost more surprised by her appearing than with the fact her weird behavior continued. She asked politely for her order immediately, no phone typing in sight, and waited with patience I never thought I’d see in her.  
-  
I had some time to think of some misspelled names for her while she wasn’t coming, so I immediately reached to write Poutine on the cup. The moment I started doing that, though, something... _pulled_ at my fingers, bending them its to will until the finished product was Peridot with a  <3 written below it. What the hell? There was no way I’d write that on the cup. It was a mistake - it must have been.

I tried writing Poutine on another cup. And another. And another. All three times, a Peridot and a <3 would appear on the cup I was writing on.

„Got any problems there, Lazuli?” asked the girl, her voice saccharine sweet. She must have had something to do with this, but I couldn’t do much about it now.

„Everything is fine.” I replied as I finished her order and gave it to her.

„Here you go! One venti latte machiatto, as usual. Thank you for ordering here at Starbucks and come again!” I made sure to seem as neutral as possible.

With one look at the cup, the annoying girl broke into such a big smile I wondered how it still fit on her face.

„Wow, thanks! This sure is a nice cup, and look at this cure little heart emoticon! I didn’t know you valued me so highly, Lazuli!”

„I don’t, Peridot.”

„Oh, don’t say that, Lazuli.” She gave me a light punch on my shoulder, barely reaching enough to do so with how small she was. „In fact, I think this little gift of yours was so great, I might just buy you a cup of coffee myself! How about that, eh?”

Wow. That was unexpected. Not many people would just offer me... anything. It was very Steven-like, who would just give everything he could to help someone. I wanted to take her up on the offer.

„No.” I replied. No reason not to make Peridot sweat a bit.

„W-WHAT?” she shrieked, the happy expression on her face replaced by shock. Worth it. „This makes no sense. What is wrong with you? Who in their right mind wouldn’t accept a free cup of coffee?”

„I would.”

„You wo- wait what?”

„I said I would accept a free cup of coffee.” The joke was already done so I didn’t need to pretend for more than I already did. Besides, the happy expression suited Peridot more anyway. „I’ll go make myself some iced coffee. It’s gonna cost you 15 bucks.”

There weren’t any more customers waiting, so I went into the back room and got off my work clothes. As I put them in my locker, I heard Peridot laughing so loud, if I hadn’t seen already she was barely 5 feet tall I’d have thought she was much, much taller. She sure couldn’t do anything quietly.

It took me just a minute to prepare my iced coffee(it was still pretty hot in Beach City) in the back room. When I returned and deposited the money in the register, Peridot’s happy face was back on.

„You’re done with your shift? Perfect. Where do you live? I can drop you off if it’s on my way.”

„That’s pretty generous of you.” Kindness from a total stranger was not something I was used to. Well, Peridot wasn’t really a total stranger, and I did have to transport my things somehow. I didn’t really want to ask Steven for another favor.

„I’ve been called the soul of generosity, thank you very much!”

„Uh-huh. And what do you get out of doing this?”

Peridot seemed to think a bit before replying: „I get to meet the stubborn barista who kept writing my name wrong all summer long! Seriously, it’s been annoying as fuck whenever I had to order from you and you kept misspelling it every single time.”

I laughed lightly, remembering when I first saw Peridot order something, and right on my first day of work. „Help me with my stuff then and drop me off at Gem Street 4 and I’ll answer any questions you might have.”

She looked at me questioningly. „Gem Street 4? Huh. Nobody’s lived there in forever. The owner hasn’t bothered to visit, and probably no one spared a second glance at the ad he put up to rent it.”

„Well, _I_ did, and I rented it out just two days ago, in fact. I thought it’d be easier for me to be at college and work if I didn’t have to travel 4 hours per day from where I lived. Now I just need to move in.”

„Huh.” She stroked her chin, looking deep in thought. After a boring minute of standing around, waiting for a response, she finally replied: „You’re going to go to Beach City College, I assume?” I nodded.

„What for?”

„Art.”

Peridot’s face lit up when I said that. „AWESOME. I’m taking art too. We’re gonna be colleagues!” She hit me playfully to the side with her elbow. I just shrugged, not really in the mood to discuss it.

It was an awkward half a minute before Peridot hurriedly said: „Hey, where’s your stuff? I’ll help bring it.”

With my faux-leather blue suitcase and a large blue bag securely placed in the trunk, we entered the small lime-green Toyota. It looked like it was scrapped together piecemeal - an off colored door, traces of duct-tape visible in corners of the car, the smell of metal - which was more than a little bit worrying. However, I rested easy when I realized it ran very smoothly, as if it was a brand new car.

„So...” Peridot started, taking a quick look at me, „Why did you rudely misspell my beautiful name so many times?”

I snorted. „Beautiful name? That’s reaching far, isn’t?”

„My name is the most beautiful name you’ve ever heard. Everything else is a lie. And you aren’t answering my question, Lazuli.”

„Alright, I’m going to do that just now.” I was too tired to tease her more. „You were the rude one first, always texting something on your phone and you always yelled out your order. Maybe I could have gone over it if my shift had started, but you always managed to arrive at the worst time of a rush hour. Honestly, you got off pretty light. Others would have spat in your drink or worse.”

„WHAT? You got hung up on that for so long? Half the people do the same thing as I did, Lazuli, and it’s just not logical you’d keep up misspelling everyone and drawing obscenities for so long. It just doesn’t add up.” She looked genuinely perplexed.

„Nah, I only kept it up with you. Watching your little tantrums when you saw your „name” was pretty funny. It was the only fun thing that would happen for hours.”

„That... makes a lot more sense. Now I wish I could facepalm, but I’m a responsible driver so that’ll have to wait.”

„Why would you facepalm yourself?”

„Cause I was an idiot not to notice such a simple thing. At least you got a laugh out of it.”

Why did her answer make me feel like I should remember something? It’s not like anything much happened today before she came to the coffee shop...

Oh, right. Now I wanted to facepalm myself.

„I think I have the right to ask a question now.”

„Shoot.”

„What was that weird pull I felt when I was writing your name today? I wanted to write-” Her hand shot straight off the steering wheel and clamped itself over my mouth, barely, and at the same time she stopped the car as fast as she could, not caring it was in still in the middle of the road. Slowly, she turned to me, her emerald green eyes looking at me very inquisitively.

„W-what did you just say?” Peridot asked, her tone dark and low. Okay, this became very strange real fast. I was thinking of bolting out of the car and giving a run for it, but almost everything I owned was in this same care, and there was no way I could replace it. Besides, her look gave off the vibe that she could keep me here whether I wanted to. I forced myself not to shiver and try to remain as calm as possible even though I hated how it now seemed the car shrunk to the size of a cell. I had to remain calm. I had to.

„Ehm, I asked what that weird pull I felt when I was writing your name?”

Peridot turned away, her expression changed to thoughtful. Aside from the barely audiable muttering from Peridot, the silence that fell was more oppressive to me than almost anything could ever be, even huge monsters and ocean depths. Now-old memories surfaced back, memories of a hulking silhouette I thought I buried beneath the sand forever. The horrible, familiar crawling in my skin returned, urging me to get the fuck out of the car, to get out before it happens again. All my instincts were yelling the same thing at me too; I could barely breathe.

I was two seconds from running out of the car when Peridot spoke:

„Alright, Lazuli, I’ll answer something to satisfy your curiosity just a bit. But I can’t share much.” She turned to me, all serious-like, before looking at me with concern.

„Hey, are you alright, Lazuli? You look like you saw a ghost or like something drained you off your blood.”

_I did see a ghost, but she wasn’t real. She wasn’t real, she was just a memory. I can breathe._

„No, no, I’m alright. Just a bit lightheaded and very tired. It’s been a long day.” At least I could still lie like before, on the drop of a hat. Peridot didn’t seem to buy it.

„Ok, I’ll assume you’re not lying and take you for your word.” Thankfully, she didn’t want to press it either.

„Thanks. You still have a question to answer, though. I haven’t forgotten about it and I’m literally dying to know it.” I did want to hear it, but it seemed less important compared to getting the crawling to stop. I was lucky that for me, it would disappear faster if I could concentrate on something else.

„Ugh, there’s no way I can talk myself out of this?”

„No.”

„Didn’t think so. Ok, let’s stop obstructing the traffic - not that any cars passed here since I stopped - and you’ll get your answer.” She started the car and got it moving comfortably.

„The only thing I can really tell you is that I used a really useful trick to make you write what I wanted. You’d be amazed how I did it and I I’d really love to tell you all about it cause it’s so fucking COOL... but I am bound by an order of secrecy, and breaking it would be bad for both of us.”

„That sounds like bullshit.” I said as deadpan as possible. It didn’t actually sound like bullshit to me. I did some things that could be considered tricks like that, but there was no way in any hell I’d tell it to Peridot. That was best left to the past, untouched.

„What? No, it isn’t. Ugh, of course you wouldn’t believe me. I can’t make you believe - not without potentially making things very bad for me and for you - so I won’t try. But, honestly... I’m surprised you felt the pull. Most people wouldn’t even notice they wrote something different, and definitely not the pull. It’s impressive, really.”

„Thanks... I guess?”

„You’re welcome.” Peridot said happily. „We’re here, by the way.”

Peridot turned right with her car and parked it in the driveaway of a house that looked pretty much like my own. It was one-story tall, not very wide, with white-colored walls and a small garden. There were three differences: 1. Mine had blue walls. 2. The house number read 6. 3. My house was just to the left of this house.

„Why did we stop here?” I asked her, puzzled as if I was doing maths. Peridot looked smug.

„Heh. Sorry. I wanted to keep it as a surprise. I live here. Which means, in addition to being colleagues, we’re gonna be neighbors!”

Alright. This was too much for just one day. The annoying girl I always tried to piss off at my job turned out to actually be something of a goofball. She pulled something off that shouldn’t have been possible, which lead me to talking with her, her agreeing to drive me to my new place, me experiencing „an episode” again, and us sitting in her car as she told me we’re going to be neighbors.

I needed vodka.

„Just my luck.” I said.

„Of course it’s your luck! Who wouldn’t be lucky to know the great Peridot?” she said with rapt enthusiasm. „I’ll even help you carry your stuff inside your place!”

With Peridots help, only one trip was necessary to get it inside. There wasn’t much sunlight left so I turned on the house lights. It was a bit more sparse than I thought it would be - there were only two tables, a couple of chairs, and an old, dusty grey couch in the main room, basic kitchen appliances in the kitchen, and a bed that could probably fit two people if they didn’t mind getting into each others personal space. The air was stale, fraught with the smell of dust.

It was mine now. It was perfect. Maybe I wouldn’t even need any alcohol for tonight, especially cause the crawling had stopped.

„This place looks is a dump.” said Peridot, immediately ruining the mood. She continued to make some more comments about how bad this place was, but I wasn’t really listening until: „Hey, you need any help with unpacking?” asked Peridot.

„No. I’ve got it covered.” My voice was colder than I wanted it to be, but I really wasn’t in the mood and I wanted to be alone right now more than anything.

„Alright.” she replied a bit bashfully. „I’ll be leaving then.”

Peridot was almost out when she spoke again: „Hey, Lazuli?”

„What?”

„It was nice meeting you.”

„Same.” I replied with all the speed of an ingrained reflex. Peridot gave me a small smile and left.

I turned and began unpacking the most essential stuff I needed for now. The vodka I was drinking or the cigarette I lit weren’t essential, but it definitely felt so.

I laid down in bed, thinking of the last word I said to Peridot. The sheer number of times I said it like this made it seem almost like the wind. What surprised me...

was that today, I actually meant it.


	2. What Makes Someone Laugh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys for not updating sooner. With NaNoWrimo here, I am probably going to be more frequent with updating this fic. I'd have probably updated sooner but I had to rewrite a part of this chapter(and move what was previously there for a latter one), but still. I'll also make a mix for this fic when i get halfway-through it.
> 
> I've made some minor edits to the previous chapter, and I've added the prompt I used to create it, and will add the prompts for each chapter as I post them.
> 
> My tumblr is: spider8itchs-robot-arm.tumblr.com , if you want to see a lot of Lapidot, with a little bit of Homestuck(primarily Vriska fanart) and Overwatch stuff. I also have a post with some background about this AU under the "urban fantasy AU" tag if you want to check it out.

My minions did a good job. The site had been dug through, making artificial canyons out of the landscape. It was a shame I was not here to observe the development of the site until now. I was told by my minions that me it was fairly easy to shape the land to their will. It was a bit surprising. Usually, lands so rich in minerals gave a lot more trouble for those who wished to use them. Watching the machinery carve out the land would have been exhilarating.

A sensation as if something was licking me passed over my face. What the hell? The only thing in front of me was a canyon and, in the distance, my minions. It was irritating as a delay in my schedule. There had to be something to solve it! I wracked my brain for possibilities for minutes before, almost as suddenly as it started, it stopped.

Alright. That was something strange, but what wasn’t strange on this planet? Anyway, it wasn’t important enough for me to bother myself more about it. I had a job to do, and I was going to do it superbly, as usual, in the face of all obstacles.

One squad of minions was having trouble with placing the drill to the side of a canyon. I didn’t wish to have delays with everything going even more perfectly than was usual with these jobs, so I moved there and started using my enhancers to provide more force. Getting the drill situated right was delicate work, but fairly easy for someone like me. I wasn’t called the best for nothing!

Just as I was going to place it correctly, the licking started again, more forcefully, causing me-

-to open my eyes.

„Ugh, what?” I looked around blearily for a moment before I saw the slightly blurry image of Meep licking me on my face. If someone or something else woke me up like that, it wouldn’t have ended well for that being. Not Meep, though. Never Meep.

„Heeeyyy. Good morning, Meep.” I tickled the little chubby cat behind her ear and let her snuggle onto my shoulder. The only uncovered window showed a clear bright sky while the clock displayed it was 8:30 am. I sighed contentedly. This was the type of day I liked to wake up to - bright and shiny and full of promises.

I did have to get up and prepare for my day, as much as cuddling with Meep sounded like a good idea. I put on my glasses, took Meep in my hands and carried her over to the kitchen. There, I put her breakfast into the two specially designated bowls - about one glass of water in one and 3/4 of a bowl worth of cat food in the other. The mess of clothes and discarded food containers littered the whole place, making navigating something of a chore, but I was too familiar with it to be bothered by it. With Meep contentedly lapping at her water, it was time to do my usual morning ritual.

Only after petting Meep a bit more, though.

Next on the list - cleaning up my piercings. I went to the bathroom and looked into the mirror. It wasn’t necessary to do so, cause I could just touch them and, with a bit of concentration, use the metal of the piercing to clean itself. The mirror made it a bit easier, though. Maybe using my powers like this wasn’t the most glorious thing, but it definitely beat the hassle of removing the piercings, cleaning them manually, and putting them back in immediately.

After I finished with my piercings, I took off my clothes and stepped into the shower. I hit the perfect temperature of the shower almost immediately. Great. I probably could have been done in two minutes and already preparing my breakfast, but I was in a huge predicament and I liked to think things through in the shower.

I was a member of the Crystal Gems. I was someone who could do stuff normal people couldn’t. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have belonged with them. It turned out they were everything I needed in my life that I thought I didn’t need or didn’t deserve. Steven, with his boundless optimism and endless friendship; Garnet, someone I could always get guidance from; Pearl, who I could fight endlessly over my engineering hobbies; and Amethyst, someone who I could have fun with without judgement.

To think I used to be their enemy a year ago.

It also meant I had obligations to fulfill. There were things I needed to study under them about my craft that I didn’t know existed; there were places to go and things to do; there was the obligation to report any and all strange occurrences to them.

But a month had already passed, and I still didn’t report how Lapis Lazuli realized I was using my special trick.

At first, I was just intrigued. How was it possible she noticed anything strange at all? Even the Crystal Gems, masters of their Arts, could have a hard time noticing something like that, but a random barista did without taking a sweat? I wished to get closer to her, but I didn’t have much time to spare between college, my shop(which I really had to go to today, amongst everything else), and Gem stuff, and when I had, Lazuli wasn’t exactly a forthcoming person. All-in-all, I think I had exactly two full conversations with her in a whole month, even with how much I tried.

All my tries went DISASTEROUSLY! I had no idea what the fuck I was doing wrong! Conversations were simple things - you walk up to someone friendly, greet them, and start talking about anything, but preferably things both(or more) parties were interested in. Yet, even the times we actually talked, it felt as if I was trying to pull a ship from the bottom of the ocean. I knew Lapis was closed off and distant since we met, but this felt like something worse. It was as if I screwed up somewhere bad when I was with her and made her hate me.

Now, I felt small whenever I thought of her.

The shower ran out of hot water, but I was too deep in thought to register immediately. When I did, however, I yelped, ran out of the shower, and dried myself off as quickly as possible. A month ago, I would have had to dress as fast as possible after a shower since the heating system didn’t work and I’d freeze myself to death otherwise. Since I repaired it myself, even though the stupid technician claimed it couldn’t be done(of course, he didn’t have my knowledge of some subjects), I could calmly go back to my bed, take my glasses from the nightstand, put them on, make myself breakfast, and only then, when I could pretend I had 20/20 vision, would I choose what to wear for the day.

The outfit I chose today was one of my favorites for autumn: a pair of light green pants, black t-shirt with a cute little alien head, over it, a custom turtleneck green sweater complimentary to the pants, my peridot necklace, a light white scarf with pumpkins embroidered all over it, and dark green Converse I thought of it as my iconic outfit, sticking out in a good way but not too much to be strange. Everyone would mistake me for a hipster college student, which was perfect.

I had some time left before I had to leave for my General Arts class. As I prepared my tea, I levitated my tablet to me and started the recording program.

„Log date: 11 10 16

The solution to the, as I dubbed it, „Lapis problem”, is continuing to evade me. Telling the Crystal Gems was the logical step, as it was vital information that needed to be shared, and also my duty. The knowledge of someone mundane realizing that I pulled off something with her was not a small thing by any means. Regardless, involving someone who was probably an innocent civilian who got lucky once into Gem stuff could be overwhelming, especially since it was obvious she was in a pretty bad shape psychologically at the moment. This situation is UTTERLY FRUSTRATING. I wish I had a clear choice, but instead I have to be torn whether I should thrust a random person into a world she may not be prepared for, no matter that the Crystal Gems stood as a force of good. The bad followed them hand-in-hand anyway. That’s what happens when you’re protecting the world.

Once, I would have done my duty and not care that it wasn’t fair in the slightest. Orders were orders, and I was made to carry them out. I shuddered at the memory of a time before, when things were... different. Bad. But it was the past, wasn’t it? There was a future and I could see things more clearly now than I could before, as if I finally started using my glasses the way I should have been long before.

I hope I’ll find a resolution soon.”

I only realized I was pulling at my hair when I stopped the recording. I stopped immediately and checked in the mirror if my style was screwed up enough so I’d have to fix it. Thankfully, it wasn’t. It was, however, a sure sign this whole thing was more frustrating for me than I initially thought. At least the class I was going to today was one of those I shared with Lapis. Maybe then, I would be able to decide my course of action and finish this.

I left for college with these thoughts still raging in my head. Needless to say that I wasn’t in a very good mood, especially when I realized I could end up being late if I wouldn’t hurry up, since I stayed at my place thinking about my dilemma for longer than I realized. Stupid frigging dilemma, making me late and shit.

It turned out I rushed into the classroom exactly a minute before the class was set to begin. Phew. Lapis was in her usual seat to the middle. I waved her by as I went over to my seat at the front. She acknowledged me with a nod. That was the best I could get, apparently. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much as crack a smile in class(well anywhere but especially in class), no matter what funny things happened. Hmmmm. Maybe I could do something about it? It would definitely be a nice thing to accomplish.

Today, the professor decided to have a bit of an art history lesson. They started with the early Renaissance painters, showing us both the finished paintings and the sketches and describing how they came to the various techniques and solutions to make their paintings and in so doing helping in new discoveries of human anatomy. I was looking for opportunities to make any sort of a joke during the class, but none appeared until they started talking about the problem of forgeries in that time.

„There was one particular forger - we only know this one existed, not their name - who was pretty talented in all the arts, but particularly talented in painting. It was a great boon to them as they copied the other, more known and popular artists of the time. However, there was one problem.

We can be pretty sure now they didn’t like Catholic Church.

Well, there were a lot of people and artists disgruntled with religion even then, when the Catholic Church was still near the height of its power. The Church sponsored a lot of artists of all disciplines, as they were the richest organization in the world at the time. Since this forger wasn’t a fan of the Church, which is why, if we find any of their forgeries, usually the religious symbols are obscured or omitted from the paintings they made forgeries of.

All traces of their forgeries stop at one point. We know that a high-ranking bishop commissioned them for an actual painting after tracking the artist down. The bishop was very impressed with their work, and wanted to be the one to prop them up from making forgeries to actual art and reap most of the rewards in the progress. The forger accepted to do it, likely cause otherwise things wouldn’t have been pretty for them.

This time, however, the forger didn’t stop at just making the religious symbols invisible. The two crosses in the painting - as you can see on the projector - had an extra line, in the vein of an Orthodox Christianity cross.

I am sure you can imagine that they was subsequently banned not just from all the parts of the art world, but from the whole of Italy. A shame - they were pretty good.”

The idea I had in my mind was awful. Absolutely awful. I didn’t know why I was even contemplating it. No way it was going to work - it wasn’t even fully an art joke, I am probably the only one who liked these history bits the professor gave us once in a while - but since nothing else had worked, I could as well try.

„Wow, they _really_ had to cross a line to make that happen.” I said, delivering it as flatly as I could.

There was dead silence in the class. Not one of the fifty students besides me in the class gave even the slightest appreciation for the joke like the professor did, although their smile looked more like „ugh, really?” smile more than anything else.

Then, I heard laughing. It was a beautiful laugh, bright and mirthful, and I wished I could make a painting to explain how beautiful it was the same way Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel. It was fresh watercolors on paper, engineering parts I liked to assemble, an Art I just mastered. I looked around so fast my eyes were a whirlwind, trying to pinpoint who was laughing in such a mesmerizing way. It was way above and beyond I ever got from any attempt at humor I made, and it made me maddeningly curious.

When my eyes rested on Lapis, I first cleaned my glasses twice just so I could be sure that they weren’t deceiving me and that it was _Lapis freaking Lazuli_ laughing at the worst joke I have ever made. I don’t think any literal shock I could ever receive could match the shock that got through me when I saw that it was her. Dumbfounded, I watched Lapis keep on laughing before I heard the professor had continued with the lesson. It was sort of a harsh pullback to reality where I was not exclusively free to be fascinated by a pretty girl, as I also was a hard-working student. Still, my amazing, perfectly concocted Peri-plan worked exquisitely! Maybe I couldn’t fully savor the moment now, but I would get the chance later.

Getting through the rest of the class became slightly difficult. I had to resort to using my green Twiddle so my hands had something to do in between taking notes since I couldn’t keep my calm. The professor knew I had to use something like a Twiddle a lot of the time and they were OK with it. It was so much better than chewing through my pencils or breaking apart my pens without thinking like I did before. Well, better for the pens. I liked breaking them apart, but it was annoying that they wouldn’t work after it.

In any case, I got through with slightly less notes and five-and-half more doodles than I’d usually have. I packed my things and left the class after saying goodbye to the professor. Lapis was nowhere in sight, which was disappointing if unsurprising. She was like a sea in a storm, almost impossible to catch still if I tried to. I resolved myself to not seeing her as fast as I wanted to, go to the Crystal Gem’s(I’d still keep my secret to myself, though), and then go to my shop. Busy day, as usual, for me.

A voice stopped me in tracks the moment I left the classroom.

„That... was the absolutely... worst pun I’ve ever heard!” Lapis snickered. I was still a being of logic and reason, which is why I turned to her and said:

„I didn’t have much to work with. Besides, _you_ were the only person who laughed at it!”

„That’s because it was a piece of art!” She was looking at me like she was expecting me to get something. Then it hit me.

„Really?” I asked, trying my hardest not to laugh and failing like a prude teen saying „booby”. „How-how long did it take you, ah, to think of it, brainiac?”

Lapis winked. „I didn’t want to completely destroy the classroom by delivering it.”

„How generous of you!” I replied, managing to stop laughing. Visibly, at least.

„It is what I am. A generous god.”

„Uh-huh. Will you also shower me in gold and let me lead your armies?” I couldn’t believe we were near quoting 300.

„ _Lead?_ You?” Lapis shook her head dismissively. „Be happy with the gold shower. It’ll be reward enough.”

„As you will, my liege. Do I bow, kneel and scrape at your feet too?” I said it in an utterly deadpan way, making no move to do anything like that. Lapis looked at me curiously before breaking into laughter.

„This is ridiculous.”

„Glad I’m not the only one finding it that way.”

Lapis pointed at me like she was going to bop me on the nose.

„ _You_ are ridiculous.”

I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrow.

„Ha! Excuse me, it’s not like _you_ are any better. I at least didn’t start referencing a suitably entertaining if almost completely historically inaccurate movie.”

„Almost?”

„Well, if we turn a bit of a blind eye, the setting _is_ correct, and they got the names of the historical figures right. That would qualify it for almost.”

Lapis was just chuckling and looking at me as if she was an innocent little girl who only knew sunshine and rainbows. I was confused at first, before I realized my mistake. Of course I couldn’t let even a simple question like that unanswered. Duh.

While I was still mentally berating myself, I heard Lapis say something. Shit. I zoned out at the wrong moment. I felt the warmth in my cheeks. Hopefully it wasn’t a huge screw up.

„Sorry, what did you say? I got a bit, uh...”

„Distracted?” she asked. „No, it’s alright. It happens to me to. I asked if you wanted to go get a coffee? My shift starts soon and I can get you one right from the back room and on the house.” She looked at me expectantly, without a trace of worry.

I gave it a bit of thought. Free coffee was always nice, but I did have to go both to the Crystal Gems and to my shop today. If I took up Lapis on the offer, I’d cut it close with what I planned to do today. I wasn’t a fan of adjusting my plans on the fly, but if I really had to, I could. This wasn’t a situation that actively required to do so... but the prospect of getting to know even a little bit more about Lapis was too intriguing to pass it. Choices, choices...

„Sure. You make coffee better than most clods.”

„Alright!” Lapis replied, sounding a bit surprised. „Let’s go then.”

A companionable silence fell over us as we walked to our destination. Alright, there was some awkwardness too, and I was searching for things to talk about. I didn’t feel the need to do so immediately because a) it was a nice, cool, autumn day, with the smell of fallen leaves permeating the air and b) I didn’t want to ruin it by accident. It was better to wait for a good conversation opener than try with inferior ones.

„Hey, Peridot.” Guess I was going to be relieved of that burden. I wondered what she was thinking about.

„Yes?”

„I hope it’s OK to ask...” Lapis started uncertainly, „what was that thing you were playing with in the class? You know, the one you made strange shapes off with your fingers and broke it apart before putting it together who knows how many times.

„You mean this?” I asked after I fished the Twiddle out of my pocket. Her eyes lit up.

„Yes. What is it, exactly? It looks sorta like a toy.”

„That’s cause it is a toy. A stim toy, called Twiddle.” Lapis looked at me, eyebrows raised in confusion.

„A... stim? Toy?” Of course she didn’t know. I couldn’t blame her at all, especially cause _I_ didn’t know about them until relatively recently. Perfect. I could show her what it meant.

„Stimming is short for self-stimulatory behavior, which is the repetition of physical movements, sounds, or repetitive movement of objects which is common in people of developmental disorders and almost completely prevalent in people with autistic spectrum disorders. Stims are those repetitive behaviors like hand flapping, spinning objects, even biting things. Stim toys are designed to help with stimming and make it easier for those whose stims are over-rubbing skin or scratching it too much to do other, non-self harming things. I don’t need them for that purpose, but I often do need something to occupy my hands for a time, hence my Twiddle. Or!” I showed her my necklace clearly before I bit into it and chewed on it. Lapis apparently found it amusing. „See? Grade A silicone, and I don’t bite through the necks of my shirts without noticing what I’m doing.”

I stopped chewing on my necklace and started playing with the Twiddle to draw out more amusement from Lapis. It was partially successful - she seemed a bit zoned out, looking at the piles of leaves we were passing by.

„So, that’s what stim toys are? They sound pretty cool. Can I try yours out?”

„Oh, sure.” I said and handed the Twiddle to her. The amount of surprise and elation I was feeling at this point was as huge as Aconcagua. Usually, when I tried to explain such things, people would at least look at me weird if not outright sneer at me. Lapis, on the other hand, was intrigued and amused and... straight up accepting. I could only name one group of people I knew to be exactly like that. It was... nice.

I watched Lapis play with it for a while, making all those little shapes out of the toy, before she gave it back to me.

„Thanks for letting me try it out. It’s fun, but I don’t need it like you do.”

„Perhaps. But you’re welcome to borrow mine if you’re anxious or stressed. It’s better to have something like this in a state like that than nothing.”

„So non-autistic can use them too?” She asked. I looked at her with as much incredulity as I could muster.

„Not only is that a yes, they are encouraged to do so if it’s beneficial for them. Stim toys are designed to be helpful and that’s exactly what they should be used for, be it to calm down a student before a maths test or to stop someone from scratching their bodies out.”

„Oh.” was the only thing Lapis said until they were right across the street of her workplace. Her demeanor was some kind of melancholic, and though I wanted to ask her what it was, I learnt by now I could push her only so much.

She picked up a dead, brown leaf from the ground and said:

„I like to look at leaves and count their lines when I need to calm down. I was sort of gifted one, in fact, at a bad time... before. It was part of what got me through.” Lapis turned to me while a small sad smile was resting on her face. I couldn’t even try to describe how beautiful she looked in this moment.

„It’s not the same thing, but I think I understand, Peridot.”

I just nodded. I understood too.

When they got in the coffee shop, Lapis’s coworker told us there were already a lot of customers, so I could only stay long enough to get my coffee. It immediately set Lapis into what I recognized as her work mode - bored and zombi-like, with a cigarette fast lit to sneak in a couple of minutes before work. Lapis gave me my coffee to me with an actual smile, though, before ushering me out of the cramped, almost completely metal room.

„Bye, Peridot! See you soon!” she said and waved at me even though I was about 4 feet away from her, blowing the cigarette smoke in my direction.

„Goodbye, Lapis! And WOW, THANKS for the coffee!” Lapis just waved a bit more before disappearing back into the coffee shop.

Wow. This day was... I’d have to process what happened at least for the rest of the day. I checked my watch to see _oh fuck_. I silently cursed at myself. It was already 3 pm and I was two hours behind my planned schedule. _Fuck_. As I started positively racing to my car and, after that, to the Crystal Gems, even with the apprehension that rose up in my like a huge wave, that it was worth it.

I couldn’t shake that image of Lapis with the leaf out of my head anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Reneissance forger part of this fic was completely made up by me just to make that joke/pun work. There might have been an individual like that, but I confess I don't really know. Makes for a cool story, though. 
> 
> Prompt:  
> “You’re the perpetual frowner in class and one day as I’m answering the teacher I intentionally make a very cheesy pun and I can hear crickets but you’re laughing out loud and that makes me feel very much accomplished"


	3. Once A Gem...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis discovers something accidentally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not getting this chapter up sooner, I had it for a while but was waiting on opinions of my beta readers and also university stuff and drawing got a bit in the way. I'll try to be faster with updating, although the next 8 days is Lapidot Week 2 so I'll be posting as many one shots of it as possible.

Today was awful.

OK, maybe it wasn’t actually awful. However, it was full of classes which only ranged from bad to worse on the boredom scale, and not even the little chat I somehow sneaked in between classes with Peridot or the abundant rain could make me feel anything other than like my soul had departed from my body and that my emotions were drained to the bottom of the ocean.

That’s why I could barely stand the sight of the big, slightly wet package on my front door. Whoever the mailman was, they really were blind if they couldn’t distinguish Peridot’s house from mine. They were very clearly diff-- whatever, I couldn’t do this to myself, not even even in my thoughts. I also couldn’t bring myself to carry her package over to her house, so I left it there, hoping she’d notice it was one of hers. The prospect of at soft surface to sleep on was too great for me to care at this point; I was done with today and possibly the whole weekend.

Maybe it was the exhaustion, or something else, but I slept the moment I closed my eyes and no nightmares plagued and taunted me, or dreams at all. There was a moment of peace which felt like a dream, but it passed as quick as it appeared.

In the morning, when I realized I was awake, there was blaring pain in my neck and my legs were as numb as if I drank a bottle and half of vodka. Just lying on this shitty couch like this - my head almost hanging off of one edge and my legs dangling off of another - was painful. I tried to get up slowly and carefully, but the pain lit up like a bonfire, unrelenting. I tried again out of sheer stubbornness and failed even worse than on the first try.

This was a moment like one Steven told me about. One more difficult bump on the road when I could barely see the point of... anything. He said I should think of the things that made me happy, I should remember those moments and hold them close, and then try to get up again. It was something everyone told me to do(that, or suck it up cause depression wasn’t real), but the only person I trusted with this was Steven.

So I tried, tried so hard like I was pushing a huge rock up a mountain with my bare hands, but all I could summon now were images of Jasper and the past.

I slipped back into sleep soundlessly, without moving an inch from my spot.

The nightmares returned in full force, ready for an attack. My home, which I thought loved me, which used me, rejected me. Jasper, who enslaved me and who I could torture so easily. _Malachite, and falling into water and drowning_... with Peridot at the bottom, looking at me pleadingly.

I woke up with a gasp, forced awake more by surprise than anything. My body hurt less than before, but it a whole lot more numb. I looked around and the numbness made a lot more sense now. I was lying on the ground, probably after I fell off the couch in my sleep.

My phone, which was also lying nearby, said it was 1:30 pm. Combined, I must have slept 18 hours, and I still felt tired as shit. It wasn’t the longest stretch of time I spent like that, but it hadn’t happened in a while.

I picked myself up from the floor, washed my face in the bathroom in a pathetic attempt to make it look at least a little bit refreshed, and put on a hoodie so I wouldn’t freeze. Normally, I wouldn’t have cared enough to get up for it, especially cause the cold never bothered me much, but I was already up and about, so might as well do it. I had about a dozen homework assignments, a design that I had to finish in two weeks I hadn’t even started, get myself some food and clean around the house. Instead of trying to organize things so I would do something useful, my mind tracked back to the anomaly of my nightmare.

Why the fucking hell was Peridot in it?

I had no idea. We had only met relatively recently, and were maybe friends? I didn’t know much about her - she went to the same college as me, liked bad coffee, was an over-excitable person who used stim toys and made awful puns; her hair was a tangled blonde mess, her freckled nose was cute and she had huge green eyes, the color of leaves in the spring. It was far too little to have an impact like this, but my nightmares didn’t lie. I always hoped they did, but the hope evaporated like water in a desert.

There was something about her that seemed like I had seen her before, or something like that. That could have been anywhere, though. I was pretty sure I would not have forgotten her so easily.

Oh shit, her package. I went outside to see it still lying there, sogging wet. Fuck. I really should have brought it in last night. Just... fuck.

There was no way I could deliver it to her in this state. I had several cardboard boxes still around the house where I could put the contents in after I dried them off. They’d have to do. Hopefully this wasn’t a disaster.

I brought the wet mass in and opened it in the middle of the living room floor. Snooping through Peridot’s package didn’t appeal to me, but it was either that or not deliver her the contents, which was not an option, even if it was just a bunch of boring magazines.

Wow.

There were a lot of small glass containers inside bubble wraps, carefully sealed to not break. In more normal wraps were a number of herbs, crushed powders, pressed feathers and skins, all neatly labeled. I didn’t bother reading through any of them, as I couldn’t believe my own eyes. This was supply stuff for fake potions and effects of a shop run by a Gem. There was no mistaking it. I used to deliver this stuff.

There was a smaller cardboard package at the bottom, IMPORTANT scrawled over it hastily. Important either meant orders or more sensitive supplies. What was it out of the two? I sat there on my knees, ready to open it even though I shouldn’t since it was completely dry. It wasn’t right. Even if it wouldn’t have been nearly the first time I opened a package like this. Even if I usually would have had to intercept and fight off the person carrying it, and defend my own in turn, it wasn’t right.

What got me in the end was that I hadn’t been this curious for so long, long enough that I couldn’t resist.

Two things were in it - an open letter, thanking Peridot for recompensing them so well for the trouble, and in a black container, a pretty big peridotite rock. The letter was usual courtesy, while the raw form(or as raw as possible) of a peridot was something a Peridot could consume if they needed a short power-up. Any Gem could do it with the gem they were named for, like me with a lapis lazuli.

I put my head in my hands and screamed. Of course! Of course Peridot was a Peridot, chosen at birth to grow into the role the Diamonds desired. She resembled one, she acted like one, she was even in a business where Peridots could be found working in. For all I knew, she could be a Worshipper. For all I knew, she was one of the most loyal Gems to the Diamonds I could have encountered.

I screamed again.

Okay. Okay. I remembered another thing Steven taught me. Deep breaths, just deep breaths to stop the huge pressure building upon my heart, making it beat as if it was going to jump out of my chest.

Okay.

My thoughts were still scattered like a broken ship in a storm, ranging from furious to sad to confused. I didn’t want or need anyone else to drag me back into my previous life, however unwittingly they’d do it. Steven, and through him, the Crystal Gems, understood, and left me alone... for the most part. I could never deny Steven anything, after all.

Peridot was the wildcard. She could do something and I’d be back in before I could say „wings”. Should I have already started running? Where could I go? How fast could I find another place to stay at? It would have to be real fast.

But that was a bit too harsh, wasn’t it? Peridot was a Gem, yes, but I couldn’t know what type of a Gem she was. She wasn’t acting like a typical Peridot, or I would have ran faster than the Road Runner if she had. It was a bigger tell than resemblance. There was a chance she had rejected the Worship and a miniscule chance she wasn’t a Gem at all. And... I liked her. I liked talking to her. Maybe that was enough to give her a chance. Try. Talk to her and get this cleared. I could already feel all the apprehension well up inside me at the thought, and my reason trying to battle it all down, my body shaking over it...

But I got up. I cleaned Peridot’s supplies and packed them in a dry cardboard box. I gave myself a quick look in the mirror to check if I looked like a wreck(not too much of one, which was good enough, I thought?) before I made the short way to Peridot’s house and knocked. My mind was a storm but I was determined enough to ignore it.

I really wanted to try.

One, two, three, five, ten times I knocked before the door finally opened to reveal a very surprised Peridot looking at me, then at the package, then at me..

„Hey, Lapis. What brings you here?”

„Hey yourself. This brings me here, literally.” I said, holding up the burden in my arms.

„What’s that?” Peridot asked inquisitively.

„It’s a delivery for you. I don’t know why, but they mixed up our addresses a lot of times, and I usually just put them in front of your door. This one came yesterday, but I was too tired to bring it to your place... so I brought it today.”

„That doesn’t look like the standard packing I usually receive.”

„About that. Um. Uh. It got wet from all the rain and I used one of the boxes I had in my house to carry what was inside it.” Peridot’s face drained of color and her eyes hardened and I could clearly see she wanted to speak, maybe yell, but I interrupted her before she could utter a sound.

„I have to ask you something, Peridot.” I sighed and wished I had a cig for comfort. This was it - I was going to get my answers, one question at a time. The thought made me tremble a bit. I still wasn’t sure how much I wanted to know.

„ _Are you a Gem?_ ”

I thought before her face was drained of color, but I was wrong. Peridot still looked like a human mere moments ago. Now, I was facing a ghost full of fear, ready to duck and cover herself with anything possible. She was looking at me intently, her eyes darting all over me like she was judging the situation and thinking of how to proceed. My fears returned with a force, muddling my thoughts.

„I have no idea what you’re talking about. What does that even mean?” Peridot asked, the bad attempt at sounding sincere and a fake smile more _infuriating_ than I thought it would be. Apparently, she did not realize how important this was. It was instinct and fear and need to know when I grabbed the water from a nearby puddle and gripped Peridot with enough strength she could not escape. The realization in her eyes was satisfying to see. I spoke angrily:

„Answer me, _Peridot_.”

„I am one, alright? Will you let me go now?” she asked, desperately resisting against her bonds.

„Not yet. I only have one more question anyway.” I got into her face, near enough to feel her breath.

„Are you a Worshipper?”

At dropping that name, Peridot went still as a board and looked at me with so much fear, as if she - _she_! - was the scared one, a child searching for safety. I expected an immediate answer, either yes or no. I expected boasting or indifference, as, even in the rare case when a Gem would run from the Worship, they know the Diamonds wouldn’t destroy someone who could still be useful.

What I saw in her eyes made me release her from her bonds, despite the tempest in my mind was urging me not to trust my eyes, to crush the tiny Peridot with all my might and run as far as I could, screaming that I would be safe again if I did that. It took all of my effort to fight it, but I did. The thoughts didn’t go quiet - Peridot still didn’t reply to my question - but I could ignore them for now.

She fell to the ground and grimaced, but I was confident, since she was a Gem, that she was alright. I gave her a hand up and asked:

„Please, tell me if you are one or not?”

„I renounced everything I had with those clods.” she said, barely audiable, but looking at my eyes. My shoulders dropped instantly, and the grip I didn’t realized I had on the cardboard package loosened. The tension I carried since I realized Peridot was like me was gone, burnt out like a flare. I knew Peridot wasn’t lying - not because I had any powers that could help with that, but because not only was Peridot one to carry her heart on her sleeve, she put it on the pedestal and proudly displayed it for all to see. It was blatantly obvious _and_ her attempts at lying were pitiful.

„Oh, thank the stars. That is... very good to hear. I am sorry for what I’ve just done. Are you alright?”

„I am fine, really. Don’t be sorry about that. I full well realize what it means to be running from them.”

I gave her the slightest nod. We stood in silence, looking at each other, unsure what to say. We were both blushing - hers so obvious around her freckles, mine hopefully less so. Then I remembered the weight in my arms.

„Peridot, where do I leave this?” I said, laughing.

„Um. I should actually bring that to my store right now. I’ve been running low on some stuff so I need to restock.” Peridot got a bit of her usual luster back. At least she was talking animatedly as usual again.

„Oh, ok. Should I just put it in your car then?” I asked, masking the disappointment I felt cause I could not talk to her more. Now that I was certain I was safe with her, I knew I could actually be friends with her. It wasn’t a long-living disappointment, though. Mental exhaustion was building up in me in the place of all those intrusive thoughts slowly, but surely, the same way a river eventually carves a path through stone.

„Sure. Um. Do you... Doyoumaybewanttocomewithmetotheshop?” she asked, almost too fast for me to understand. I was not sure if I did want to come. Those places carried bad memories for me... but so did everything which I could associate with my previous life. A Peridot who I knew was here, with me, this time. That already made it better.

„I do.”

„Perfect! Let’s get this in car then, already, and go!” said Peridot and tried to lift the package off of me. She pulled with all her might.

It failed miserably. There was barely any difference in weight for me.

„I can... do... it.” she panted. I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. The sight of this tiny woman, tiny Gem, trying to lift something so easy and failing was too cute. It was endearing in stupidly high amounts. I almost melted when, out of nowhere, there was a meow and the cutest, little, chubby, black jumped on Peridot’s shoulder and licked her face, causing Peridot to jump slightly in surprise and turn her attention to the cat.

„Heeeeyy Meep.” Peridot said, a huge smile taking up half her face.

„That’s how she’s called?” I asked.

„Yeah. I only adopted her a couple months ago. I found her in my backyard, meowing desperately in the rain. You should’ve seen her, she was so tiny! I couldn’t just leave her outside. I’m pretty sure she would have run when she saw me but she basically collapsed into my hands. I had to learn how to take care of cats - you wouldn’t believe how many things there are that can make cats sick - in a day and it was super stressful but here she is.”

„She looks amazing. Um, may I?” I made the motion like I was petting Meep.

„Sure.” Peridot said and shrugged. „You can try. She’s not usua-- usually-”

Meep was melting in my hand as I scratched her behind her ear.

„Friendly to people besides me.” Peridot finished, her eyes open like she was literally shocked.

„Really? She seems pretty friendly to me.”

„She attacked the mailman three times. I believe he has a scar on his hand as a result of one of those attacks. Dogs are scared of her.”

„Whaaaat?” I asked, looking first at Peridot, then at Meep in surprise. „She’s a wicked little cat. A wickedly cute little cat.”

„Wow, thanks.” Peridot was beaming. „Are you ok with taking Meep with us? She usually comes with me to work. In fact, I’m pretty sure she heard me say shop and jumped over as fast as she could.”

„Of course! We should go, then. I’m getting tired of carrying this.”

With the package in the back of the car, Meep in my lap, and an animated Peridot at the wheel, we made our way to the other side of Beach City. I busied myself by petting Meep - it was like getting years of my life back the more I held her - and lighting a cigarette(after first confirming with Peridot it was alright). Shame Meep was already in a loving home. I couldn’t bring myself to steal her from it.

At first, Peridot was very concentrated on her driving. She made a comment she was a relatively new driver and that it was better if her mind was completely focused on the road. I wasn’t surprised at all when she did start talking:

„Do you want to know what was the exact trick I did to you at the coffee shop? It’s not a usual way of doing spells. Very creative, if I say so myself.”

„Sure. I’ve never known a Peridot that could control a person’s movements. In fact, I don’t think I know a Peridot with any actual powers.”

„That is a lie. At least I, and probably all the others, can manipulate metals and make them do our bidding. I can send a piece of metal at a velocity of 100 miles per hour to utterly crush someone, which makes me an utter powerhouse.”

„Very powerful.” I said, nodding sagely.

„Yes! But what I did at the cafe was a lot more subtle. Each person has a lot of tiny particles of metal in their blood, skin, bones. It is too little for me to do anything with them... but, if I use something else as a source of power for myself, something with more concentrated amounts of metal, like my phone, and I can remotely control those particles well enough to control your body. I practiced hard for two weeks to do what I did smoothly. Now praise me for my achievement, Lazuli, praise me for being the greatest Peridot to be born!” she exclaimed like a cartoon villain. She was making me laugh again. She was always making me laugh again.

„That is pretty good... for a Peridot. Now, what would happen if I decided to...” I held up my hand threateningly in her view and smiled mischievously, „... Raise some water and launch this car into the ocean? Would you be able to stop it, o Great Peridot?”

„Of-of course I would! What do you take me for? A liar?”

„No... but then, you wouldn’t mind testing that claim, would you?” Peridot’s face became bright red.

„I-I am far too concentrated on driving this thing, thank you very much. And I wouldn’t want Meep to accidentally drown.”

„Uh-uh.” I said, putting the edge of my palm to my lips. „I claim _pffffffffffffffffffff_!”

„Hey!” Peridot gave me the offended look middle-aged customer gave to employees for not having all their wishes fulfilled.

_Pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff_

„Stop it!” she asked, desperation in her eyes.

„No!” _pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff_

„OK, fine! You’ll get your chance to test me, but later. We’ve arrived.” There was actual anger in her voice. It caught me off guard, since I didn’t actually want to piss Peridot off. Shit. I couldn’t even apologize in time cause she already got out of the car.

„This is _The Kindergarten_.” Peridot said, with pride in her voice, when I joined her, gesturing towards the neon-emblazoned sign which said „The Kindergarten”. It was illuminating the white wooden house and the windows of the shop in the twilight. I shuddered at the name, but I wasn’t surprised. It was a law to name them „Kindergartens”. Even when she was free of their influence, she obviously couldn’t forget some things. I stomped my almost-burnt-out cig, wanting to be the angry one now.

But, she wasn’t the only one who couldn’t forget the past.

„I can’t wait to show you everything that’s in there. Come on!” She motioned for me to come and, with Meep trailing close behind us, we entered the store.

Wow.

„I didn’t expect there to be so many books.” I said, feasting my eyes upon the rows and rows and rows of books. Hardcover, paperback, wraparound, leather-bound books - all of them were there. Usually, a Kindergarten looked a lot more like a trope-y mystical witch shop, and the books were decorations. Here, it was the opposite. Sure, there were some weird and creepy stuff, like the fake skeleton hanging right above the door or the light mist hovering just above the floor; but there were also actual flowers in the corners and bright, artwork-like paintings on the walls. It wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as I expected it to be.

„I wanted something different, to put my own stamp on my own Kindergarten, and I picked books. I preferred them digital, but all books are valuable. It’s not like there’s not other stuff - the „love” potions at one corner of the counter, the huge crystal ball on the back shelf, the Korean letters hung above the counter - that also perfectly camouflage my back business. I don’t have a lot of it, since most Gems are still Worshippers, but it pays. Most of it is done online, actually, and I usually just go here to pack up the orders.”

„I like it a lot. It feels... nice.” My mind was actually a mess about this. I wasn’t running out of the place as if from a tsunami, but the apprehension was again building up in me.

„It’s what I was aiming for. To feel strange, but still comfortable. I didn’t realize how oppressive they were before, how intimidating. They really lacked my touch. If you’re impressed, I’m sure everyone would be.” Peridot was back to her smug state. „And that’s not all. Come into the next room to see the real show!”

„That’s very forward, coming from you.” I said, smirking. Peridot became redder than a Ruby in exactly 0.5 seconds.

„No, that’s not what I- why would you- really? No, I-I just wanted to show you some original, experimental art I’ve been working on.”

„I was just teasing, Peridot.” And I really was, but my mind had a funny way of imagining all the things I said. The images were... not unwelcome. At all.

„OK.” she replied, a bit of tension visibly leaving her. „Do you want to see those little experiments? I should’ve asked at first, but IMO that’s the most interesting part of this place and I’ve never showed it to anyone.”

I had no real answer for her but a simple: „Yes.” We left Meep to her own devices - I think I saw her scurrying around, searching for something - and moved to the back room.

The room Peridot lead me in was spacious, made of simple, brown wooden boards and kind of empty. On the left side of the wall, there were, by my guess, several humanoid looking robots and a few smaller robots in the shapes of gems. On the right, an old tape recorder was put on a small pedestal with a nice blue know wrapped around it. In the center, there were several toilets, some on top of others in a pyramid. Wait...

TOILETS?

I had absolutely no idea what was going on anymore. It was making me dizzy.

„I see you are examining my artistic accomplishments. May I explain the usage of these pieces?”

„Sure.” It was bound to be interesting to hear whatever Peridot was about to say. She took the old tape recorder in her hand shoved it right in front of my face.

„This if the recorder I was given to log my thoughts and events which happened to me slightly before and after I’ve gone renegade. It was a greatly stressful time in my life. I believe I still have the recording of myself yelling at myself „CLOD!!!!” repeatedly on it. It is meant to signify my separation from the Worshippers AND I feel awful when I look at it!”

Peridot left the recorder on the pedestal and moved onto the robots.

„These are from a small robot competition I was in. All of them are test prototypes, meant to explore what I can do with the tools I had. It led to a full-sized robot like these guys,” she took one of the gem-shaped robots, „and a first-prize at the competition. I had almost no challenge for it except for one other robot, but it could not stand the strength of mine!” There was a lot of pride in her words.

„So... where is the full-sized robot?”

„It got destroyed... in an _accident_.” Peridot said, not looking at me. She sounded truthful enough, but there was more to it I was fast becoming too tired to care about.

„Anyway! That is not all!” Her voice became cheerful again as she regarded the toilets. „The last art piece I still have is still a work in progress, but I am sure I’ll find a solution in no time.”

„They’re toilets.” I said, looking at her the same way Saitama looked after one-punching a monster.

„They are! But they are supposed to be shoot out water like a fountain. That’s been giving me problems. It is very difficult to make a fountain like that work which would also return the water back into the toilets.”

„Why don’t I try?”

Without waiting for Peridot’s response, I reached for the water with my senses and commanded it up from the toilets, crafting a small fountain off of the streams of water and „looping” them so as not to waste it. It was pretty minimal effort for me to do, and the result was Peridot looked at me with star eyes and the most excited expression I ever saw in a person. I let a small smile slip, wishing I had the energy for bit more. My eyes were making going dizzy and I had to fight through the exhaustion to stay concentrated, but I was still ok for now.

„Oh my staaaars! A collaborative piece that works perfectly! This is the best day of my life! Oh! I have to record this immediately!” Peridot grabbed the nearby recorder, cut the knot, and pushed the record button.

„Log date 11 19 16

Lapis and I just completed my toilet fountain piece. My ingenuity and creative thinking, combined with Lapis’s water powers, gave like to an art piece that any gallery on Earth would love to have!”

„I don’t think art is the right word.” I said, deadpan. „This looks like something Meep would have done if she could morph into something bigger. Like... a Meep Morp.”

Peridot opened her mouth and pointed at me like she was going to disagree with me before giving it more thought. I could see her smile grow more bit by bit as the name clicked in her... or did I imagine it? I rubbed my eyes but I still couldn’t see her clearly. She spoke into the recorder again smugly:

„Yeees, Lapis has the right of it. This experimental art should not be confused with regular art again. From now on, they will go down in records as Meep Morps, and all the world will cherish them as such!”

She was being really ridiculous, flailing her arms and jumping up and down across the room and enjoying herself like a child in shallow seas. It was really refreshing to see someone like Peridot to be so expressive and... free. I was drawn to it enough to want to join in, maybe find an instrument, dance along and really forget.

Instead, when I made my next step, I went down on my knees, eyes closed so I would just have to feel the world spinning around me without seeing it. This was too much. I was trying, wasn’t I? Why wasn’t that enough? Why could I not spend some time with a person I liked without fearing I would sink into the deep ocean that was my brain without even a moment’s notice. I could barely feel the tears streaming down my face with my senses so clouded.

The hand that touched my shoulder stood out like a lighthouse in the night since it didn’t belong to me. There was a face in front of me; I gathered the strength to open my eyes to see Peridot looking at me, the concern radiating from her strong enough I could feel it upon my skin.

„Lapis? What’s wrong?”

„I... I am just exhausted. It has been a long day for me.”

„It really has been. Alright.” Peridot didn’t sound fully convinced. „You are in luck, then. I have a bed here, just upstairs. Do you think you can get there by yourself?”

„I’ll try.” I wanted to get up myself, but Peridot offered me a hand to help. I took it - noticing how her skin was neither soft nor rough, like old, weathered clothes - and leaned on it a bit as I got up. My legs were a little shaky, but, now that I was up, I was okay. I was about to ask where that bed was, since a bed sounded divine right not, but yawning like a cat got in the way of saying anything. Good thing it was equally effective.

„Okay, Lapis. Let’s get you to the bed.” Peridot said. She grabbed me by my arm and took me upstairs, the wooden steps creaking lightly under our steps.

It was another relatively big and bare room. The kitchen part of it was a bit less sparse, with the dirty dishes scattered around everywhere, but the other parts only had a regular-sized bed, a drawer and an old, black TV. I didn’t spare much thought to my surroundings, too drawn to the rest I would get if I fell asleep. Before I did so, a question managed to break through in my mind, thankfully.

„You won’t mind if I sleep here, Peridot?”

„Not at all, so long as you keep to your side of the bed. I do have some business to take care of, but it’s already pretty late so I’ll probably be too tired to go home myself. It’s why I even have that bed. I hope you won’t mind if we share it?” Peridot asked, a bit reluctantly.

„No. I won’t mind.” I was moving towards the bed, imagining how soft it would feel. Maybe I could even get a proper nights sleep.

„Okay, then. Knock yourself out. Oh, and if you want some clothes, I think I should have something your size in the drawer, and I’ll be going downstairs so you don’t have to worry about me watching you as you change.”

„Mhmmmm.” I was barely listening. The bed called to me with the song of sleep and I complied, snuggling into it until I was comfortable.

„You’re too tired for anything. Makes sense.” spoke Peridot, not unkindly. „I’ll see if I can prepare something for you. Good night, Lapis.” I heard her small steps going away from me, creaking on those stars. Shit. She went too fast to hear me.

„Thank you, Peridot.” I said, before I drifted into sleep.


	4. A pizza and a show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot finds out Lapis never watched Camp Pining Hearts. That has to be rectified immediately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was supposed to be sort of different in what would happen, but, as I wrote it, well... things changed. I like the new result, though. Also, since it's free day for Lapidot week, I'm entering this fic in it too!

There was an unfamiliar warmth in my bed, clinging to me, when I woke up. It was way too big to be Meep, who never got under covers anyway, which almost made me jump out of the bed. I caught myself in time before I did so, remembering I left Lapis to sleep in it last night as I worked. She was dead asleep when I got back upstairs, my eyes barely open after I finished with my own work. Sleeping in the same bed as someone else was not something I was used to, but, by now, I was more than comfortable around Lapis, so it worked out. I had changed into the spare alien-pajamas I kept here, snuggled into the bed on the right, unoccupied side. It took me no longer than usual to fall asleep.

Her shallow breath was warm on the back of my neck. Our legs somehow got intertwined and one of her arms was enveloped over me; if I hadn’t calmed down, I would have woken her up too. That would have been a disaster. Even though my phone said it was 9 am, which meant that she was sleeping for about twelve hours, the few strands of light which made their way into the room made it possible for me to see Lapis needed more rest. She looked peaceful and serene, not in the lifeless way she usually was, but real. Even with the bit of drool at the edge of her mouth.

Lying in bed like this was more comfortable than I thought would be. I wanted to stay for longer and enjoy this, but I had more work to do. As gently as I could, I moved her arm away from me and disentangled our legs before getting out of the bed.

I did my usual morning routine, taking extra care to be quiet Meep was sleeping in her usual spot in the back of the kitchen. I didn’t have much for breakfast - just a small pack of Chaaps and no tea. Usually, I ordered something to eat if I was staying overnight. There wasn’t much actual food packed here. That would have been a waste since I rarely slept here. The small breakfast bothered me as I was engraving the previous-night-prepared pieces of wood with fake ward signs, which were ordered by Ronaldo. Lapis was here today, though, which made it somewhat more complicated. I didn’t want to give her Chaaps, but I couldn’t prepare anything decent here, not just because the fridge was almost perpetually empty. The kitchen was a mess I’d have to clean first, but that could wake up Lapis, while nearest store was half an hour away walking distance, and Lapis could wake up in the meantime. Leaving her alone in a strange place was out of the question.

The only solution was delivery. I had no idea what Lapis liked to eat. A good guess was seafood, since Lapis Lazuli’s usually devoured any seafood meal. I wasn’t very keen on that idea, though, and I didn’t want to pick something wrong. This left me with the only option that everyone loved... pizza from Fish Stew Pizza. It took me a minute to order a cheese and pepperoni pizza, to be delivered in two hours. I didn’t know when Lapis was going to wake up, but I gave it my best guess. Pizza was ok cold but nowhere near as good as hot, after all.

With that off my mind, I concentrated again on working on the engravings. There were ten more to finish to the ten already done. I had absolutely no idea what Ronaldo wanted to do with this amount of anti-magic wards, but I could guess, given how he was a paranoid paranormal investigator who once kidnapped Steven cause he didn’t realize the difference between a costume and an actual alien. Doing business with him wasn’t something I liked too much, but, so long as he ordered something as harmless as this and paid for it, I was ok with it.

I finished what was left in about an hour. For extra effect, before I finished packing, I added some smoky scent to the wards. It wasn’t necessary as Ronaldo was too idiotic not to be fooled by my work, but I liked being careful and precise. With his package secured, I started working on a project assigned to me by Pearl.

There was something wrong with her spear - the light construct was behaving erratically, not hitting the intended targets and the laser not firing at all. It was weird she let me take care of it, since she was very good at engineering herself, but I guess even she can get too busy, especially with how into that Mystery Girl she was. I was happy to do it, maybe even add an upgrade or two if possible. The surprised look on Pearl’s face when I accepted without a fuss was worth it.

I had just dismantled the incredibly complicated spear - there were so many different electronic parts I had to extract with the precision of a so I could conduct a full examination when I heard, faintly, a voice say:

„Peridot?”

Oh. Lapis was awake. I ran up the stairs as fast as I could.

„Here I am, Lapis. How are you?”

„I’m feeling ok. I can’t believe I slept this much. I’m lucky if I get a full night’s sleep most of the time.” She stretched her whole athletic body, arms over her head, revealing the dark skin up to her belly button. My cheeks went aflame and my whole brain went blank except for the thought of Lapis without any clothes, my fingers touching her skin, going across her whole... I scrambled to think of something else and tear my gaze from her midriff, but it was more difficult than taking apart Pearl’s spear.

It was Lapis’s voice(and the hand she was waving in front of my eyes) which brought me back to reality.

„Hey, Peridot. You zoned out again?”

„Um, yea. I-I’m sorry about that.” I wanted to give some sort of an explanation, but my phone started vibrating. It was a call from the delivery girl, Jenny. Turning away from Lapis, I took it immediately, thankful it saved me from further embarrassment. It was a short call, telling me my pizza had arrived.

Facing Lapis again, I said:

„That was the delivery girl. I got us some breakfast. Are you hungry?”

Lapis looked at me like she didn’t understand, then winced like she realized something suddenly.

„I... I am actually hungry like a wolf. I haven’t eaten yesterday at all.”

„WHAT?” I yelled, unbelieving. „Give me just a minute.”

I ran to the entrance, paid Jenny for my order(added a nice big five dollar tip to it to), and ran back up like I was chased by a Corruption.

„How does pizza sound to you?”

„Good.” Lapis said, smiling.

„OK. Let’s get on the bed and watch something while eating. Have you ever watched Camp Pining Hearts?” I asked as we sat down on the messy bed.

„No.”

„You haven’t watched Camp Pining Hearts?” I asked incredulously. „That’s it. You _have_ to watch the most amazing show on Earth. Do you have anything you need to do today?” Lapis shook her head, looking at me with amusement.

„Perfect! Let me just put my trusty USB in the TV and we can start watching immediately! We’ll have to go through the first two seasons, which are not as good as the third, but that doesn’t matter! This is gonna be so awesome. I can’t wait to show you the perfection that is the relationship between Percy and Pierre!”

With everything set up - the first episode having started, me and Lapis eating the pizza - we started watching the show. I had already seen the whole of it at least ten times, but it sucked me in with the opening theme like I was watching it the first time. When Percy came on screen, I almost shrieked cause I was so happy to see him. Doubly so for when he and Pierre interacted.

As we came to the end of season one, I started watching more of Lapis and her reactions to the show. It grew from her standard disinterest, her eyes barely watching the screen, to her inching closer to the screen and not even looking where the pizza slices were when she wanted to take one cause she was staring at the screen. This was very indicative, but I wanted to be completely sure Lapis liked it before I started with my theories.

„So... how do you like it, Lapis?” I asked after the last episode of season one finished. Lapis looked at me with a smile.

„I like it. A lot. All those camp competitions were fun to watch, as well as the tension between Percy and Paulette.”

„What?! NO! Percy and Paulette are an awful pairing! Pierre and Percy are a much better pair for each other.”

„That makes no sense, Peridot. They don’t have much interaction with each other. How did you pair them up even?” Lapis sounded partially confused and partially intrigued. I wanted to demonstrate how well Percy and Pierre with, but all my notes were at my house, so I would have to rely on words only to convince her. Thankfully, my memory was pretty good. I stood up from the bed - it would just look silly if I tried to prove my point while lying on my bed - and spoke:

„I should have expected you’d fall into the show’s trap. Very well. I will give you the resume, since all my theories about the show are at my house.

Percy is a highly skilled member of the yellow team. For example, he is the best at canoe racing, as demonstrated in the „Canoe Race” episode. In fact, had he not gotten distracted by Paulette, he would have easily won the race. It would have been a no contest, but noooo, he had to be an idiot and save her friendship bracelet. He also has the makings of a good leader for the yellow team.

Pierre is also a very skilled individual. He is a very big, very strong person. You could say he’s even a brute in that regard. His survival skills are matched by no one bar Percy, and three-legged races and wrestling are his absolute domain in the camp. Percy and Pierre represent the strongest power duo ever, ready to take on the camp and the whole world if they got the chance to be together.

On the other hand, Paulette has... nothing. She does not do much of note nor does she have many great skills. There is no place for her in the camp hierarchy, not to mention a place near Percy. It is actually irritating how much the show tries to ignore this. I wish I could go to the writer clods of the show to talk some sense into their cloddy heads.”

This demonstration was pretty good, I think. I emoted everything the way I wanted to, emphasizing all the good qualities of Percy and Pierre while pausing every now and then for the dramatic effect. It was as good as it could get without my notes. Lapis was certainly watching me with an even bigger interest than for the actual show.

„You have given this a lot of thought, Peri.” Lapis said, her tone of voice impressed.

„Yes, well, I could do a lot better- wait, did you just call me Peri?” I asked, raising my eyebrow.

„Yeah. I hope that’s ok? I like your name but your nickname is even cuter. Just as cute as you, in fact.”

„I’m not cute! I’m awesome! I’m gonna boop you if you tell me I’m cute again.” I said, staring at her imperiously while she, in return, gave me the cutest puppy eyes I’ve seen in a person since Steven. There was no fighting that face.

„But yes, you can call me Peri from now on.”

„Good. Peri, you’ve convinced me there’s more to this potential Percy and Pierre relationship than I thought. I’d like to watch more of the show with you, if you’re ok with me staying.”

„Not only am I ok with that, Lapis, but I am super excited to watch more of it with you. I can point out all the little details of the show even better now that I know you like it!” I ignored the fact that I still had work to do. That fact was nagging in my mind throughout the day like Yellow Diamond’s cloddy orders used to do, but Lapis and Camp Pining Hearts were enough to ignore it.

„Ok. Let’s order something to eat first, though. It’s been hours since the pizza.” Lapis was right. It was already five pm and the pizza had arrived at about eleven am.

„Sure. What would you like?”

„Ugh, I don’t really care so long as it’s food.”

„Ok. I’ll order Chinese. Pizza is great, but there can still be too much pizza.” I knew that for a fact, after eating nothing but pizza for a week. It was Steven’s idea, and while we both didn’t really regret it, it took us both two months until we could see a pizza without disgust.

„Sure. But I’m going to pay. No buts!” Lapis said, pressing a finger on my lips. „You’ve been a good host, but I’d feel wrong if I didn’t pay you back somehow, at least a little bit.”

„Alright.” I called the nearest Chinese restaurant and ordered two takeouts. They arrived after the first episode of season two finished, and, even though I still tried to pay for it myself, Lapis didn’t let me. We laid back on my bed again, this time a bit closer together, started the second episode, and ate. I was a bit clumsy with the chopsticks while Lapis was all grace. Not a single piece of food fell on her clothes, as far as I was aware.

Maybe it was my imagination, but Lapis looked a lot better now than just a day ago when she came to me about that shop delivery. The bags under her eyes were less visible and her eyes were not bottomless pits of despair. I was close enough to smell her scent. It reminded me of the ocean air, even with the fact she probably hasn’t seen a shower in two days.

The last episode of season two finished on a pretty decent note. Percy and Pierre got a decent amount of screen time together, bringing them a bit closer together. Paulette, as always, tried to ruin it, but she was unsuccessful this time. The longer the show went on and the more explanations I made, the more I managed to convince Lapis I was right about Percy and Pierre.

„Hey, Peri. What’s the time?”

I checked my phone.

„It’s a bit past eleven.” Shit, that was pretty late. I had an early English class tomorrow, and I hated waking up without enough sleep almost as much as I loved Camp Pining Hearts.

„I’ve gotta go, then.” said Lapis disappointedly. „There’s no way I haven’t overstayed my welcome here, and I’m pretty busy tomorrow.” She stood up, readying herself to leave. I grabbed her hand to stop her, which was met with a raised eyebrow.

„You haven’t overstayed your welcome at all, Lapis. In fact, if you want to, you can sleep over here again.”

„You’d be okay with that?” she asked, uncertain like Pierre around Percy.

„I’d be happy with that.” I replied. One of Lapis’s rare, unrestrained, genuine smiles shined on her face as if it was a beacon.

„Ok. But I really should shower and change first, if I can also borrow your shower and some clothes?”

„Yeah, sure. Let me help you look.” After rummaging through the drawers, we found two pieces of clothes Lapis’s size - a dark blue T-shirt which said „No gg no skill” and a pair of dark shorts with little ET aliens printed all over them.

„Ok. You take that shower and I’ll go to bed.” I yawned, finally feeling tired enough to sleep. „I might even fall asleep soon.”

„Ok, sleepyhead. Goodnight, Peri.” Lapis replied and took off for the bathroom.

„Goodnight, Lapis.” I said as I got into bed, setting myself up comfortably.

I closed my eyes, relaxed, and listened to the water running in the shower until it stopped. Sleep had almost claimed completely when Lapis got to bed, but I was still conscious enough to feel the kiss on my cheek and hear her say:

„Sweet dreams, Peri.”


End file.
